Volkan Piknik

About Volkan Piknik

Volkan Piknik is a sandwich and fresh-juice counter, the kind of place Ankara calls a piknik, on Gazi Mustafa Kemal Bulvarı at Demirtepe, on the edge of Kızılay and next to the Demirtepe metro stop. Its own Instagram profile says it was founded in Demirtepe in 1965 by Faik Yıldız. A food blogger writing about the shop says his son Volkan Yıldız now runs it, and the business also has a branch in Çayyolu. The menu is built around toasted sandwiches and freshly squeezed juices. Food writers single out the Ayvalık tost; the mixed sandwich of sucuk, salami, kaşar cheese, Russian salad, pickles and ketchup in crisp bread; the sosisli sandwich and kavurma sandwiches; and the Atom, a blended fruit juice. One writer lists the super tropical Atom as orange, grapefruit, carrot, black carrot, blackberry, apple, grape, lemon, pineapple, banana, honey and hazelnuts. The Ankara food account Oburcan has described piknik culture, with toasties and fresh juice, as a favourite Ankara pastime and Volkan as one of its leading representatives. Practical notes: a Tripadvisor reviewer mentions a few small tables and chairs for sitting and says cards are accepted. The phone number listed for the Demirtepe shop is 0312 230 03 04. Its own profile and map listings give different opening times, all starting early in the morning and running late, so check before a very early or very late visit.